The New York Rangers are about to shake things up in a big way. Star forward Artemi Panarin looks set to leave the team within the next week, after the Rangers benched him for “roster management” ahead of the February 5 freeze.
But that’s just the beginning.
Once Panarin moves, all eyes will shift to center Vincent Trocheck. His future with the team suddenly seems uncertain too.
GM Chris Drury recently dropped a bombshell letter to Rangers fans, making it clear the front office isn’t happy with how things are going. It’s a move straight from former GM Jeff Gorton’s playbook, but with an important twist.
“This will not be a rebuild,” Drury emphasized.
Instead, he’s calling it a retool – promising to bring “tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree” back to Madison Square Garden. The difference between a rebuild and retool? It’s all about timing.
The Rangers are sitting on a hefty $29.5 million in future cap space, according to PuckPedia and Spotrac. They’re also likely to get an early pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
But here’s the tricky part: while Drury wants to stay competitive, he hasn’t laid out exactly how long this “retool” might take. For anxious Rangers fans, that’s the million-dollar question.
